Republican John McCain has beaten Democratic rival Barack Obama in the crucial TV viewing figures battle in the race to the White House.

Nielsen Media Research said a record 38.9 million people watched the Arizona Senator accept the Republican nomination on Thursday, slightly more than the 38.3 million people who tuned in for the Illinois Senator's speech last week.

The Republican convention in St Paul, Minnesota, also attracted more average viewers overall than last week's Denver, Colorado, outing for the Democratic Party convention.

The November 4 presidential election will make history either by putting the first African-American into the White House, or choosing the first female vice-president.

Senator McCain had the daunting task of following his surprise pick for running mate - Alaska governor Sarah Palin - who gave a feisty speech hitting back at critics who questioned her credentials for the job.

Her prime-time TV debut on Wednesday was watched on television by 37.2 million Americans.

Mr McCain said: "I'm not in the habit of breaking my promises to my country, and neither is Sarah Palin. When we tell you we're going to change Washington and stop leaving our country's problems for some unluckier generation to fix you can count on it.

"We've got a record of doing just that and the strength, experience, judgement and backbone to keep our word to you."

Mr McCain made a concerted effort to home in on Mr Obama's message of change in a bid to blunt the Democratic assertion that a McCain victory would mean four more years of the polices of unpopular President George W Bush.

The 72-year-old cancer survivor who was tortured repeatedly in North Vietnam's infamous "Hanoi Hilton" prison, is running to be the oldest first-term US president.

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